Preps

Resurrection Christian football finds determination from defeat

Cougars set sights on 1A state championship

By Cris Tiller

Reporter-Herald Sports Writer

Posted:
08/19/2014 03:36:43 PM MDT

Resurrection Christian senior quarterback Luke Mondt (11) tosses a pass during practice August 15. Mondt will lead the Cougars as they pursue a 1A state championship. (Cris Tiller / Loveland Reporter-Herald)

The Cougars' football season ended like a nightmare unfolding before their very eyes, except there was no pinch to hurtle them back to reality. Buena Vista had indeed scored a last-minute touchdown to end Rez's 2013 playoff push 42-35.

Nine months later the crash of helmet to shoulder pad echoes to the field south of Resurrection Christian School. Fresh rain has made the grass soggy and there's a sense the pain of last fall's heart-breaker has numbed, but not dissipated.

The Cougars are focused.

"It's been eating at everyone, even the coaches. They'll bring it up and it just eats away at us," senior quarterback Luke Mondt said. "Our defense was really mad, and we just know we don't want this season to end that way again. We'll give it our all."

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The way 2013 ended could have torn apart Rez's psyche, yet the way players talk about the loss, it only seems to have strengthened their resolve.

"We're ready to get back on the horse and basically take care of business," senior lineman Austin Walton said. "We want to go all the way and anything short of that I think is going to be very disappointing. I feel like because of that game we understand where we're at."

The Cougars enter this season ranked No. 5 in the AP poll with lofty standards set for themselves to erase the bad memories that still haunt their dreams. Not that it will be easy.

Rez lost its top rusher, receiver, sacker and tackler from a season ago, but feel what it lost at the top it's made up for with improved depth.

"Well we're young, but we have some talent here," Rez coach Mark Roggy said. "We have a big job in front of us; that's all you can say. But I like the way the kids have come out. There are some guys every year that you're going to lose, you just have to step up and replace those guys the best you can."

The Cougars bring back Mondt to run the offense in his senior year, along with talented junior running back Evan Anderson and senior wide receiver Dakota Murrow. Walton will anchor the line on both sides of the ball with fellow senior Jonathan Grimes, a unit both agreed is much stronger from last season.

They also boast one of the top kicker returners in junior Cooper Ward who averaged 25.4 yards per return.

Rez will be favored to win the 1A Metro Conference, but challenges itself off the bat against 2A's top-ranked Platte Valley on the road Aug. 22.

Mondt looks sharp during practice, feathering balls downfield right into the outstretched arms of receivers. He even places a perfect kickoff to the right corner and debates with sophomore Michael Stevensen — his backup at quarterback, but starting kicker — who did it better.

"Well I call him the Golden Boy because he can pretty much do almost anything," Grimes says of his quarterback. "I have a lot of confidence in him to deliver."

Roggy agrees quickly that having a talented senior at quarterback makes his life easier, saying "That's a position where we're not hurting so much."

Mondt is not one to talk about himself, but goes on and on about faith in his teammates and coaches, and means it. Even if he won't admit it publicly, he'll play a major role in putting tears of joy down his teammates' faces as opposed to ones of disbelief.

"I know for the seniors that we want to win a state championship," he said. "All the older guys, they don't want to lose, so we're pretty much competing for a state championship. I think we have a great shot."